Machine for dividing plastic material into charges.



G. E. GOWDY. MACHINE FOR DIVIDING PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO CHARGES.APPLIGA'TION FILED MAB. z3, 190s.

- G. E. GOWDY. MACHINE FOR DIVIDING.` PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO CHARGES.APILIGATION FILED MAR. z3, 190s.

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G.E.G0Wn. MACHINE PQR DIVIDING PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO CHARGES,

APPLICATION IILBD MAB.l 23, 1908.

Patented 001?. 26, 1909.

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G. E. GOWDY.

MACHINE FOR DIVIDINC PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO CHARGES. APPLICATION FILEDMAR. 2s, 190g.

938,051 Patented 0615.26, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEErcE.

GEORGE E. GOWDY, 0F BELLEVILLE, NEW JERSEY.-

MACHINE FOR DIVIDING- PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO CHARGES.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. GOWDY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Belleville, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forDividing Plastic Material Into Charges, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to machines for Working plastic material, andwhile more especially designed for employment in the art of moldingdough into charges of equal dimensions is limited to no speclflc use. Inthis class of machines a rotary carrier has been employed, said carrierbeing provided with pockets for receiving charges of plastic-materialforced successively into said pockets by feed-mechanism,-each pocketcontaining a plunger or piston against which the material is fed, andwhich on the impact of said material will recede until it engages astop. Mechanism in this style of machine is also provided forintermittingly rotating the pocket-wheel or carrier, so that when onepocket has received a charge the wheel will be turned to bring the lledpocket to a point where the charge is ejected by a forward movement ofthe plunger. Connected with the pocket-wheel, and intermittinglyrotatable therewith, is a head through open'- ings in which thepiston-rods pass, and the means for rotating said pocket-wheel areapplied to said head and, therefore, drive the wheel and the headtogether in an arcuate ath.

P One object of the present invention is the provision of means foryautomatically controlling mechanism which causes charges of plasticmaterial to be transferred in receiving pockets to a desired point, andthere ejected.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for brakingan element of the device for rotating the head and pocket-wheel.

A further object of the invention is the provision of details in theoperating mechanism for driving the feed-rolls, whereby said feed-rollsmay be rotated at varying speeds.

Other objects of the invention will be set forth in the now followingdetailed description.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of a machineembodying Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 23, 1908.

Patented oct. 26, 1909.

Serial No. 422,612.

the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View of said machine,partially in section. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal, vertical section of saidmachine on line 3 3 of Fig. 2, parts being in elevation. Fig. 4 is adetail view in end elevation of means for intermittingly-rotating thepocket-wheel; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of details of the mechanism tobe hereinafter described.

Like characters designate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, the frame of the machine is designated by thenumeral 1, and it may be of any approved construction, and is mountedupon a base 2. In said frame is journaled a driving-shaft 3 to which anysuitable device, such, for instance, as a pulley 4 may be attached forapplying power to saiddriving-shaft. Keyed to the driving-shaft aresprocket-wheels 5 and 6 of different diameters which throughsprocket-chains 7 and 8 drive similar sprocket-wheels 9 and 10respectively, the latter being loosely mounted upon a shaft 11 journaledin bearings at the top of the machine. Splined upon shaft 11 between thesprocket-wheels 9 and 10 is a clutch 12 adapted to be thrown either to aneutral position or into engagement with either of said sprocket-wheels.For operating this clutch any desired means may be employed, that shownconsisting of a lever 13 having a fork 14 mounted in the groove of theclutch, said lever being pivoted to a bracket 15 projecting from theframe and being operated by a handle 16 having a detent working in holesor notches of a plate 17 in a common manner, and serving to lock thelever and clutch when thrown in either direction.

Rigidly mounted on shaft 11 are spiral gears 18, 19 and 20 meshing,respectively, with spiral gear 21 on shaft 22, spiral gear 23 on shaft24 and spiral gear 25 on shaft 26. Shafts 22 and 24 are journaled inbearings of a hopper support 27 and shaft 26 is journaled below saidhopper support in bearings 28 secured to the machine frame 1.

Designated by 29 is a hopper into which the plastic-material to beworked is placed,

and by 30 is an adjustable concave plate, the function of which will behereinafter described. On the shafts 22 and 24 are mounted feed-rolls31, 32 which will seize the material passing from the hopper 29 andadvance it into the throat formedby the space between the adjustableplate 30 and feed-roll 32. rilhese feed-rolls compress the material to acertain extent and force it forward, and they are aided in this movementby a third roll 33 mounted on shaft 26, the periphery of said rollentering a slot located between the plate 30 and the open end 34 of thechute to which the material is delivered.

Any suitable mechanism may be substituted for the feed-device describedwithout departure from the invention.

Designated by 35 is a pocket-wheel or carrier in each pocket 36 of whichis mounted a piston 37 carried by a rod 3S having a rounded head 38.This pocket-wheel has a hub 39 upon which is splined or otherwiserigidly connected a head 40 having a series of apertures for thereception of the rods 38,-the pocket-wheel being loosely mounted on astationary shaft 4l journaled in bearings of the frame, and carryingrigid therewith a cam 42 that will be hereinafter explained.

Surrounding the reduced portion of the head 40 is a loosely mounted ring43 which is held thereon by a plate 44, and connected to a lug 45 onsaid ring is a curved pitman 46, attached at its lower end toarcrank-arm 47 hereinafter described. Carried by said ring 43 is aspring-actuated pawl 48, said pawl being adapted to engage theratchetteeth49 on the periphery of the head 40. An annular collar 50 islocated between the inner edge of the ring 43, and the shoulder on thehead, said collar serving as a spacing piece properly to locate theposition of the ring.

Secured upon the outer support of the shaft 41 is a bracket 5l having asplit-bearing 52-and a plain bearing 53. Threaded into thesplit-bearing, which is provided with a clamp-screw 54 is a bushing 55having a knurled head 56, and mounted in the bores in bushing 55 andbearing 53 is a screw 57 provided at its inner end with a head 53, andat its outer end with a handwheel 59. Between the knurled head 56 ofbushing 55 and the bearing 53 a split-collar 60 is threaded upon thescrew 57, and it is forced against bearing 53 by a spring 6l surroundingsaid screw,-the tension of said spring 61 being varied as desired byadjusting the bushing 55, against the head 56 of which said spring acts.Split-collar 60 is provided with a clamp-screw 62 and projecting fromits underside for a purpose hereinafter described is an arm 63.

On the shaft 3 is keyed a ratchet-wheel 64, and pivoted in the slottedwall of a recessed sleeve 65 loosely mountedv on said shaft, andadjacent the ratchet-wheel is a pawl 66 having an engaging tooth 67 atone end and being normally thrown into Ya position to engage theratchet-wheel by a spring 68 secured to the periphery ofthe sleeve. Atits opposite end an arm of this pawl is provided with a shoulder 69adaptedA to engage the inner extremity of a lever 70 when said lever',which ispivoted at 7l on a vertical standard 72 projecting from thebase, is in the position shown in Fig. 5. Said lever is held in thisposition against the tension of a spring 73 by an arm 74 which issecured to one end of a rock-shaft 75. To the other end of thisrock-shaft is secured a similar arm 76 having in its free enda slot 77engaged vby a pin 7 8 projecting fromv an adjustable rod 79 carried bythe arm '63 of split-collar 60. The arms 74 and 76 extend Vat rightangles to each other from the rockshaft 75, the joint constructionconstituting a bell crankdever. A slight longitudinal movement of thescrew 57 together with the split-clamp 6() tending to 'compress spring6l will through the pin and slot connections described, arm 76, androck-shaft 75, vcause arm 74 to release lever 70 so that spring 73 willthrow it out of engagement with shoulder 69 of pawl 66, thereby allowingsaid pawl to engage ratchet-wheel 64.

Secured to the end of recessed sleeve-65 is the crank-arm 47 beforementioned, and in the periphery of said sleeve 65 is a camgroo-ve 80adapted to receive a roller 8l which is secured to one side 'of an arm83 pivoted at 84. On the other side of 'said arm one end of a link ispivoted on a stud S6, and the other end of rsaid link is pivoted Y to anarm y87 mounted on 'a stud 88 secured in a lug 89.

Designated by 90 is a pin in the under side of link 85 which serves apurpose hereinafter described.

As the sleeve 65 is .loose upon the continuously rotating shaft 3 it isobvious that, the mechanism operated by cam-groove 80 and lcrank-arm 47will remain idle when pawl-66 is out of engagement with ratchet-wheel64.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 4 it will beseen that `one revolution ofcrankarm 47` which is intermittently rotated in lthe direction of thearrow A will cause an oscillationof the ring 43 of sufficient scope toturn head 40 and pocket-wheel 35 lone-third of a revolution or just`enough to bring the next cylinder to the right into register with theopen end 34 of the chute. The ful-l 'one-third revolution of the head 40Vand pocket-wheel 35 takes place on the upward stroke of crank-arm 47,the ring 43 being retracted on the downward stroke thereof so 'that thepawl 48 will engage the neXtratchet-tooth 49 to the right lon head 40. Abrakeshoe 91 pivoted to the machine-frame at 92 and caused to bear uponthe peripheryof the pocket-wheel 35 by a spring 93, prevents anyundesired movement of said pocket-wheel. The friction of the brake-shoeagainstthe pocket-wheelmay be varied by adjustingthe iio tension ofspring 93 by means of the nut 94 on screw 95. During 1the downwardstroke or last half of a revolution of crank- `arm 47 cani-groove 80causes arm 83, link 85, and arm 87, to be oscillated, thereby causingthe piston which is in line with the end of arm 87 to be thrown to itseX- treme inward position. While in this position the rounded end 38 onthe end of the piston-rod 38 is adapted to be engaged by a right angledbracket 96 carried by the ring 43, said bracket serving to retain thepiston with its end surface flush with the end of pocket-wheel 35, asshown in the lower cylinder Fig. 3, while it is carried past an opening(not shown) in a receptacle 97 mounted on a bracket 98 adjacent to theocket-wheel. This receptacle contains suitable substance to apply to thepistons to prevent adherence thereto of the material being worked, saidsubstance being kept in proper condition by an agitator (not shown)which is driven by a belt 99 passing over pulleys 100 and 101 the latterbeing secured to shaft 24.

Mounted on shaft 3 is a drum 102 over which a conveyer-belt 103 passesfor delivering the material as it falls from the pocket-wheel 35.

Frequently7 due to carelessness cleaning operations, or other causes,the piston-rods 38 are apt to be thrown outward, and, consequently, tointerfere laterally vwith the head 58 and thus block the movement of themachine, and cause breakage of the parts. To preventthis action the cam42 is employed, and, as will be seen from Figs. 1 and 3 the pistons 37will always be thrown forward, thereby so as to clear said head.

In the operation of the machine, a quantity of plastic material isplaced in the hopper 29 and power is applied to the pulley 4 to set therolls 31, 32 and 33 in motion through gearing heretofore described.Rotation of said rolls causes the plastic-material to be fed throughsaid opening 34 .into the one of the pockets in line with opening 34,thereby forcing back the piston 37 in said pockets until the head 38 ofits rod 38 engages the head 58 of screw 57, said screw having beenpreviously adjusted to allow' the desired quantity of material to bereceived in the chamber 36. As soon as said pocket becomes filled thecontinued pressure therein causes the screw 57 to be forced backwardtogether with collar 60, thereby actuating the arms 76 and 74 so as torelease the lever 70. As before stated this allows the pawl 66 to engagethe ratchet 64 after which the sleeve 65 rotates in unison therewith.The first half of a revolution of the arm 47 will through pitman 46,ring 43, pawl 48, and ratchet-teeth 49 turn the head 40 together withpocket-whel 35, one-third of a revolution, thereby bringing the neXtchamber 36 into register with the opening 34 of the chute, and causingthe filled pocket to be moved opposite, the free end of arm 87. Duringthe second half of a revolution of arm 47 ring 43, through pitman 46,will be returned a little more than one-third of a revolution, so as tobring the pawl 48 slightly back of the neXt of a series of ratchet-teeth49 corresponding in number to the pockets 36. When the filled pocket 36is moved opposite the free end of arm 87, said arm is thrown forwardtogether with link 85 and lever 83 by cam-groove 80 and in its forwardmovement arm 87 engages the end of the piston-rod in the filled pocketand forces the piston forward until it is flush with the outer surfaceof cylinder 35, thereby ejecting the measured charge of material uponthe conveyer-belt 103. After one of the pistons 37 is thrown to itseXtreme forward position by the arm 87 it is held in said position bythe bracket 96 while it passes the receptacle 97 for the purpose lbeforementioned. During the forward movement of the link 85 the pin 90 engagesthe lever and forces it back against spring 73 until the arm 74 iscaused by the tension of spring 61 to rengage and hold it in position totrip pawl 66, and thereby arrest the rotation of sleeve 65 until thenext pocket is suiliciently filled to repeat the indexing and ejectingoperations.

Changes may be made in the various details of the machine withoutdeparture from the invention, the latter not being limited to theprecise construction shown and de-f scribed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination, with a rotary carrier having a series of pockets, ofa piston in each pocket; means for feeding material to the pockets; astop for limiting the stroke of the pistons, and thereby controlling theamount of the charge in each pocket; a device forintermittinglyU-rotating the carrierwheel; and means controlled by eachpiston at a certain point in the rotation of said carrier-wheel forpositively throwing into action mechanism for driving forward thepistons to eject the charges from the pockets.

2. The combination of a rotary carrier having pockets, pistons mountedin said pockets and revoluble with the carrier, adjustable meanscoperative with each piston for limiting the outward stroke thereof, amovable device for operating the pistons to cause them to eject thecharges successively from said pockets, and means coperative with saidadjustable means for causing positively the rotation of the carrier andthe action of said movable device.

3. The combination, with a rotary carrier having pockets, of pistonsmounted in said pockets, each piston having a rod; means forintermittently actuating said carrier; an .the pistons to eject chargesfromthe pockets lO adjustable stop engaging with each piston- ,of saidcarrier.

rod, and serving to limit the proportions of In testimony Vwhereof Iaiiix my Y signathe charge of material; a device carried by ture inpresence of tWo Witnesses. said stops' means actuated by said device forpositively7 throwing into action the means GEORGE E' GOWDY' for rotatingthe carrier; and a device also Witnesses:

actuated by an element of said means for JNO. J. HOPPIN,

rotating the carrier for driving forward WM. D. GIBBY;

